OECD Webinar

Rationale for public accountability and goal setting

On June 15, a representative of the Economic Research Institute JSC took part in the OECD webinar dedicated to the review of corporate governance of enterprises with state participation in Kazakhstan.

To promote an ambitious program to reform state-owned enterprises in Kazakhstan, the government of Kazakhstan is adopting the OECD experience, in accordance with the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises through a joint project to review the corporate governance of state-owned enterprises.

The work is between the OECD and the Private Asset Management Policy Department of the Ministry of Economy of Kazakhstan with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Kazakhstan is currently a member of the OECD Working Party on State Property and Privatization Practices, and the project is being implemented within the framework of the Working Party's Global Relations Strategy, aligned with the OECD Global Relations Strategy.

More than 200 experts from various Kazakhstani state enterprises participated in the webinar.

On the OECD side, speakers included Talisa Zur Hausen, Policy Analyst, and Hans Christiansen, Deputy Division Chief and Senior Policy Analyst, as well as representatives from Latvia, Ireland, and Korea.

Participants from the side of Kazakhstan: Aliya Murzagalieva, Director of Asset Management Department of Baiterek National Management Holding, Zhadyra Temirbekova, Head of State Asset Management Policy Department of the Ministry of National Economy of Kazakhstan and Timur Odilov, member of the Expert Council of the Supreme Council of Reforms of Kazakhstan.

During the first session of the webinar the issue of state property policy development was discussed which included the main concepts of management, role of the state and validity of its participation in certain enterprises as well as informing the public.

The second session looked at setting goals for the best ownership functions for individual state-owned enterprises.

This webinar is the opening of a series of three webinars. The following seminars will further discuss the issues identified in the first seminar, as well as address additional topics such as national holding company reform and disclosure and transparency policies for state-owned enterprises.

For reference:

The Guidelines - are an internationally agreed upon standard that gives countries specific guidance on how to better manage their responsibilities as business owners, thereby helping to make public enterprise more competitive, efficient, and transparent.

The OECD - is an international economi.organization of developed countries, established in 1948 and recognizing the principles of representative democracy and free market economy. The purpose of the OECD is to conduct a coordinated policy aimed at ensuring sustainable economic growth and improving living standards of member countries. The OECD has 38 member countries. Kazakhstan has been cooperating with the OECD since 2008.